How to change font size

To change the font size for Microsoft Interet Explorer, follow the simple instructions listed below:

From the top menu: Select, View > Text Size

Alternatively: Hold down the Ctrl key and use the scroll wheel on your mouse.

Magnifying the screen

In addition to enlarging the text in your web browser it is also possible to use electronic magnifying glasses to zoom in on areas of the screen to make it easier to read small text or to get a closer look at the images. Most PC's and Macintosh computers will have screen magnifiers built in, but alternative ones are also available to download - sometimes even for free.

Accessing Windows XP's built-in magnifier

From the Start menu: Select Programs > Accessories > Accessibility > Magnifier

You can now magnify a portion of the screen up to 9 times the normal size. There's also the option to invert the colours in the magnified area to make it easier to read text on for example a low contrasting background.

Accessing Mac OS X built in magnifier

From the Apple menu: Select, System Preferences> Universal Access > Seeing

From here you can activate the zoom function which lets you zoom up to 40 times normal size (depending on version). There’s also the option to “Switch to White on Black” to make it easier to read text for example on a low contrasting background.

Note that the Universal access options will look slightly different depending on what version of Mac OS X you have but the core functions should be the same.

Making the mouse easier to see

Even if you scale up the text in your browser it can still be difficult to surf around if you can't find your mouse cursor. Luckily there's ways to make your mouse cursor bigger and easier to find.

Making the mouse easier to see in Windows

From the Start menu: Select Control Panel > Mouse

Here you can change the size of your mouse cursor, add a mouse trail or make the computer show you where the cursor is every time you press the CTRL key.

Note that the options available will be slightly different depending on what mouse or version of windows you have but the items above will be available on most PCs.

Making the mouse easier to see on Mac OS X

From the Apple menu: Select System Preferences> Universal Access > Mouse

Here you can drag the slider called Cursor Size to select how large you want the mouse cursor to be.

Screen Reading

If you are hard of seeing it may not be sufficient just to increase the text size or using screen magnifiers. What you may need is software that will read out the text on a webpage to you through your computer's speakers. Mac OS X 10.4 and above has this function built in, but for Windows you will need to download special software.

Windows screen readers

Browsealoud is free downloadable software that will read webpages out loud for you. Also available for Mac OS X.

JAWS is a popular professional screen reading software, and as such is also quite expensive.

Window-Eyes is another professional screen reader which also has support for braille displays.

Mac OS X built-in screen reader

From the Apple menu: Select System Preferences> Universal Access > Seeing

Here you can activate VoiceOver (also called Spoken Interface on older versions) which will read out text to you through your computer speakers. VoiceOver which comes with Mac OS X 10.4 and above is a fully functional screen reader, just as good as the professional ones you would normally have to pay for.